Owens Publishes Research in Frontiers in Environmental Science

Dr. Katharine Owens from the Department of Politics, Economics, and International Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences publishes a methods article in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science under the topic Challenges and Innovative Solutions in River Science.

The article, co-authored by fellow National Geographic Explorer Puspita Kamil from Indonesia describes the methods the researchers use with the goal of encouraging more data collection on riversides. This is not with the goal of “cleaning” the world’s rivers, which the authors believe is ill-conceived— but with the goal of better understanding the way debris flows through (and remains in) freshwater systems. The authors hope more effort to ground-truth along riversides will help the scientific community better understand these systems AND perhaps help answer the "missing plastics” question.

The article is open-source and can be accessed here.